Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-11-24
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.
Historical Facts Gathered by Mr.. Richard
j. Monks, of Boston.

Historical Facts Gathered by Mr.. Richard
j. Monks, of Boston.
MIR. Monks said that the subject of
artificial light was very large and
worthy of series of lectures. as it
ought to be covered. He referred to
the worship of the orbs by the
ancients The Incas claimed to be
children of the sun Light of some
sort was associated with those who ex-
pected some return from their duty.
The practice of fires in open spaces
was common in ancient times. AS
civilization advanced lamp laws were
passed to prohibit bonfires. For
centuries benfires were common with
the Celtic natives in Europe, especially
at festival times. Beacon. fires were
often used as signals. Their use is
mentioned in the Greek tragedy of
':Agameannon." In Spain taxes were
levied TO sustain beacons at the time
of the armada In the Book of Jere-
miah. in the Bible, there is an allusion
to the fire signal. There was a mast
and tar barrel on Beacon HILL 1t was
never used and was blown down in
1889.
The use of whale oil originated with
the Norwegians. In 1850 the Dutch
had 260 vessels, employing IA, 900 men.
in the business. In New England the
whales were first caught from small
boats. The Indians engaged with
avidity in the hunt for whales. In
1858 there were 600 vessels of 200, 600
tons burden engaged in the American
whale fishery. The argand lamp was
first used in 1900. The decline in
whale fishery was due to the discovery
of oilin Pennsylvania
Candles were spoken of first in q
remote period. Their use really began
in the early history of Christianity.
As late as the sixteenth century their
use was limited. In spite of modern
methods the candle is used for certain
purposes, and the soft light can not
fail to please the eye The honor and
merit of the first application of coal
gas seems to belong to William Muir
dock, of Redworth, Cornwall. In 1902
he lighted an extensive manufacturing
establishment France also claimed
the honor of its first demonstration,
but not satisfactorily. January %.
1907, saw a number of London streets
lighted by gas The amount of $780,
600 was raised. and the King petitioned
for the incorporation of n company.
Two companies supply London ut 20
cents per 1000 cubic feet, and their
capital is 500 600 600 Coal gas was
first used in Baltimore in 1916. and fo-
some time its progress was slow and
unsatisfactory. Now there are over
loo works in the United States. fur
nishing employment to over 25. GEO
men, portion being for the manu-
facture of water gas
In 179S Frenchman discovered the
process by which water gas was made.
In 1875 Prof. Lowe established the first
works in the United States. The bust
ness has increased enormously here.
but not always. because hard coal and
naphtha are so expensive. Natural
gas has been know in Asia and China
for a long time. History tells us of q
well in France in the time of Julius
Cesar The first in the United States
was in Charleston. The Taylor House
in Fredonia, N. Y, was illumin ated in
1924 in honor of Lafayette. A few
years ago gas well was discovered in
Ocean Spray, near this city. The
nature and efficiency of natural gas is
but partly understood.
Petroleum was known to mankind
from the dawn of history. 1t was
spoken of in Sweden in 1850 In
Western Pennsylvania it was found on
the ground, and used as medicine
many years before wells were bored.
In 1853 we'll ~ feet deep, yielded
more than l, 900 barrels a day. Then
a reckless spirit of speculation arose.
1t enriched few. while it ruined
thousands. The standard drill is five
and one-half inches. the flow
being as great from small
as from large hole. In 1880
the products amounted to 25 900. 900
barrels, and the stock on hand June
/. 1850 was valued 8 II. o co. 1000 Rus
STA has valuable deposits at Baku.
long known. but just put to CONNER
cial use. The value of exports thence
in 1888 was $15 600. OO0 In Russia
they are ahead of America, in being
able to use the 1ASot y,m-ss' petro-
leum. So abundant is tkepoil r Baku
that work can be carried on by its
flame in the night, and the oozing IF
the oil from the ground prevents dust.
In concluding, Mr. Monks said that
he had heard great deal said about
the size of the statue of Liberty on
Bedloe's Island as being the highest
stutue ever known I'm modern or
ancient times To test this he had
made n scale of the lighthouse Pharos.
which had stood in the harbor Of
Alexandria, and was regarded as one
of the seven wonders of the world.
making his computations from the ac-
count in. Josephus and judging by the
distance it could be seen at sea- Plac-
ing the model of Pharos against a
model of the statue of Liberty. the
l. l., H. I'll